Carlton Television

Success Story

Carlton Television chooses Novell technology over Microsoft to link its disparate satellite offices and deliver reliable television services to its audience of 5.7 million viewers.

Overview

Carlton Television (Carlton), a division of Carlton Communications, delivers television services to viewers throughout the United Kingdom. Carlton Communications is a large independent television film and program creator in the UK, producing high quality drama, game shows, music specials, documentaries and children's programming.

Challenge

With the recent acquisition of HTV, a UK broadcaster serving more than 4 million viewers West of England and Wales, Carlton Television faced several challenges. Carlton needed to seamlessly integrate and standardize its multiple IT systems and processes, as a result of the merger, without disrupting day-to-day business. The broadcaster was in search of a solution that would leverage its existing technology while allowing it to standardize its network infrastructure.

In addition, Carlton wanted to synchronize its two disparate e-mail systems into one efficient collaboration tool, offering employees e-mail, scheduling and calendaring functionality-anytime, anywhere-whether in the office, at home or on the road. The broadcaster needed a solution that would not only offer competitive functionality but also provide optimal system security.

The organization also needed a solution to simplify its desktop management needs. Upon evaluating the existing systems of both companies, Carlton decided to build upon its existing Novell infrastructure.

Novell solution

"We decided to migrate from Microsoft Exchange to Novell GroupWise because it was the most secure platform available. We've used GroupWise for more than four years, and in that time, we've experienced zero downtime due to virus attacks."

Gareth Wright
Technical Manager West Country Region
Carlton Television

Carlton Television selected Novell NetWare, GroupWise and ZENworks for Desktops to enhance its environment. Once the organization completed its company-wide rollout of NetWare, it looked to standardize its collaboration tool. At the time of the acquisition, Carlton was utilizing GroupWise while HTV employees were running Microsoft Exchange. Although NetWare granted the option of maintaining a mixed environment, the organization decided to migrate from Exchange to GroupWise.

GroupWise Web Access extends functionality beyond the confines of the office, allowing Carlton employees to work at anytime, from any location-Microsoft Exchange did not offer HTV employees external access to e-mail. GroupWise also enables employees to synchronize e-mail, calendar and address book data to handhelds and Personal Digital Assistant (PDAs), further enhancing collaboration.

Furthermore, GroupWise security proved unsurpassable, while Microsoft Exchange displayed an unacceptable level of vulnerability. GroupWise proved to be reliable and secure, preventing such viruses as "NIMDA" and "I Love You" from infecting Carlton's system.

"We made a decision to migrate from Microsoft Exchange to Novell GroupWise because it was the most secure platform available," said Wright. "We've used GroupWise for more than four years, and in that time, we've experienced zero downtime due to virus attacks."

Rounding out the Novell solution is ZENworks for Desktops, which played an instrumental role in ensuring the tight integration of the company's disparate IT systems. With ZENworks for Desktops, new and existing applications can be pushed out to users from a central workstation quickly and efficiently, significantly reducing network management time and costs while increasing employee productivity.

ZENworks for Desktops also provides the organization up-to-the-moment inventory of all workstations. Its remote control feature allows Carlton technicians to provide better support and faster service to employees throughout the entire organization without ever leaving their desks or writing complex scripts.

In the near future, Carlton Television plan to roll out NetWare 6 across its organization, adding new features and functionality, including iFolder, Novell's premier file management and backup solution; iPrint, Novell's Web-enabled print solution and eGuide, Novell's Web application that searches for directory-based information.

Results

Beginning with the rollout of NetWare, Carlton Television has experienced significant business benefits as a result of unifying its network infrastructure. With GroupWise, employees now have secure, anytime, anywhere access to e-mail, calendaring and scheduling tools, connecting employees to all the resources they need to do their jobs, regardless of their location.

In addition, the capabilities of ZENworks for Desktops ease the daily burdens of desktop management, increasing employee productivity. Technicians are no longer required to travel to each site to perform mundane tasks, resulting in lower travel costs and better use of resources.

"GroupWise has enhanced our collaboration capabilities, while ZENworks for Desktops has granted us a single point of administration," said Wright. "The Novell solution has given us the reliability and security we've come to trust and rely upon."